One Royal visit

The Queen paid a visit to Crowthorne yesterday to open a new state-of-the-art wing at a village for disabled people.

Her Majesty came to Ravenswood Village, run by the charity Norwood, off Nine Mile Ride to open the Pamela Barnett Centre – a facility for people with profound learning disabilities.

Bernie Myers, chairman of Norwood, showed the Monarch around the village where she met several residents, some of whom had won Special Olympic medals.

She was then taken to the new centre where she was shown the facilities including a resident’s room and a special sensory room filled with lights and sounds.

The Queen officially opened the Pamela Barnett Centre by unveiling a plague on the wall having met the cen-tre’s major benefactors.

Resident Peter Girvin, who won gold in 10 pin bowling at the Special Olympics in Glasgow in 2005, said: “I was very pleased to meet the Queen, she asked me what I got my medal for and I told her and told her.

“It was very exciting, I’ve met the Princess Royal before but never the Queen. It makes me feel very proud.”

Mr Myers, said: “She said she particularly wanted to meet staff and residents here rather than just coming to a dinner or something like that.

“She seemed particularly interested in and impressed by the role we play in getting our residents into employment.

“It’s been a fantastic afternoon, the excitement has been noticeable all day.”